If you want to destroy the life of your enemy, ask him to go to FNB, ask him to start a restaurant.
It's from the heart.
Ah, it's so good to be back again really for yet another episode of the Chris Hansen conversation.
Season 2 and we're rolling right along with this season. I am so happy because
at least for the second time for me, I've got this gentleman in my studio and I'm always happy to
have him with me and he's such a joy to have. And with me, I have the currently retired
Chef Benny Sito. Welcome to the studio. Hi, thanks for having me. My pleasure, my pleasure.
It's good to see you. It's good to have you back. The last time we were together, it was in my last
podcast. Oh okay. If you remember that show, the show that I shall not name. But this is a brand
new one and I'm so happy to have you back again with me at least. And the last time when we spoke,
you were together with Chef Imran. Yes. And we heard this, you told us this fantastic story
of your life and how heroin was part of your life and how you reformed and became the person that
you are. Yeah. Yeah. And it was a great story. And that's a story, I'm going to be very bold
about this. That's a story that a lot of people here in Singapore know of. You've wrote your book
Yeah. About that. You've had a lot of talks that you've given also about that. Yeah. So today,
I will not be talking about that because I'm pretty sure everybody knows who Chef Benny Sito is.
I want to know now and for every one of our viewers and listeners, yeah,
how did you become this person in the culinary world? That story, which I think is going to be
great for the young people out there who are considering a career in culinary, who are
considering maybe one day they have dreams, their hopes and ambitions to be restaurateurs. Yeah.
And yours is such an interesting story because you started in the business kind of late in life.
So let's go back to the very beginning. How did you land up in culinary? Okay,
as I think back about my life, I guess God has not given me a lot of gifts,
but I think God has given me a gift of cooking. He has given me a gift of discernment when I
eat something, I will be able to decipher, I will be able to know what kind of ingredients
that got into it. I was just like this expo dancer. There's some happening there. I know some Malay
families were selling some desserts. They got it from KL and then they're selling the dessert.
So he gave me one to try. I said, wow, it's quite nice actually. I said, why don't you do it yourself?
You know, as I taste it, actually I know what is inside the dessert. It's no rocket science.
Or maybe I think I have this gift. Not everybody might. Oh trust me, Chef, that's a gift.
Because I would not have been able to tell. So the story goes back in 1990. There was a very big
earthquake in Turkey. Yeah. You remember? Yeah. So I was in this disaster relief team. A group of
Singapore doctors and nurses, Malaysian doctors and nurses, they flew to Istanbul to a little town
in Turkey called Izmit. Izmit, I-Z-A-K-M-I-T, Izmit. Okay. So I was in this disaster relief team. Of
course, I'm not a doctor or I'm not a nurse. Yeah. So my job is to go to Turkey with this group of
doctors and nurses and build a tent. I'm going to cook all the meals for the doctors and nurses.
Of course, it's not about me alone. I have a team also. So we just packed our bags from Singapore and
then got all our ingredients. And then I remember we can bring anything to Turkey. So nobody would
stop us. Bring lanchong meat, lap cheong or anything. Oh really? We just bring the whole
thing to no immigration disturbance. Okay. And then we are actually quite, you know.
Because you're a relief team. Yeah. Disaster relief team. So every meal, the doctors and nurses,
when they have their meals, and every time they will come to me, say Benny,
your cooking is so nice. Why don't you come out and do some cooking? I'm going to cook for you.
Your cooking is so nice. Why don't you come out and do something about maybe start a food business?
At that time, I was a dispatch rider. No. Just ride a motorcycle and deliver, you know, letters.
Sorry Chef, I've got to stop you there. I just need to understand. You were a dispatch rider.
You ended up on the relief team. Yes. How did that happen? At that time, there was a big earthquake
and then they need volunteers. So I just, for my kind of work, I deliver letters, I got money. So
never mind. I parked my motorcycle aside. Through with the team to Turkey and that's
through cooking. Maybe I love to cook. It's something that I think at that time. So you
volunteered? I volunteered. So I think I can cook. So I just followed them and then the encouraging
thing is the doctor said, Benny, wow, your cooking is so fantastic. And then we eat such kind of,
why don't you maybe come out and do some F&B? What did you cook for them when you were there?
Cook for them like cook a curry, cook a normal Singaporean family. They will cook some vegetables
and then some fried egg. And then I remember I fried some kiam hsueh. All the Turkish run away.
The kiam hsueh was so healthy. So the doctors and nurses, I try to make them feel less homesick
during that time. So I think I did a good job. And then my point is sometimes you have a gift.
You need somebody else to remind you, hey, you got this gift of cooking. Then I said,
there and there, I said, yeah, actually I'm quite good at cooking. Why don't actually,
I come back this time, come back this time, I come back, maybe I think of something along this line,
F&B. And then this sparkled that wanting to do something in the F&B business.
And then later on I started a Chinese restaurant which is
filled very badly. I'm not satisfied. I think my customer said my food is good and then I
I did not, I'm not able to do a good business. After all these years with the low back, I guess
that I do not know how to manage. But Chef, let me try and connect the dots. Turkey, when you were
there, you were cooking. 1990. Then you've got people who told you, hey, your food's really good.
1990, Turkey. Correct, in Turkey when you were there. Yeah. So people told you your food's very
good. And then you realized that, me, me, I've got a gift. Right? And then you came back to Singapore.
Yes, still doing dispatch riding. Okay, that's what, that's where I'm trying to understand. So
you were, when came back to Singapore, you were still working as a dispatch rider. Then after that,
how did that Chinese restaurant come about? Opportunity came, 2005. Okay, so
that was 15 years later. Yes, that was 1990. I was in Turkey, came back to 2005. Wow, I mean,
so what were you doing between the time you came back from Turkey? First, I didn't have
an opportunity. So you were still working? Yes, I'm still working as a dispatch rider.
But later on, I became an owner of the dispatch company. So I began to be able to save up some money.
Okay, okay. See, that's why, this is where, this is where I want to really, yeah. So 2005, when
opportunity arise and I have the money at hand, I said, okay, why not we start a Chinese restaurant.
Okay, so let's go back to dispatch riding part. Yes. You eventually owned a dispatch riding company,
or dispatch company. Yes. Okay, how did that happen? How did that happen is,
I, when I was working as a dispatch rider, I never worked in my life before I, you know, before I was
even smoking heroin. I usually work one month, two months. I'm not the kind of people come out
to work for people. Sure. So I, when I released from prison this time, really wants to change,
then I, to get a job that do not need to go for a job interview, which I very afraid because
nobody wants to hire an ex-offender during that time. Right. And then I got a job as a dispatch
rider. Okay, I don't owe you anything. You know, I dispatch, I got 50% commission. That's where I can
sustain my motorbike and then my pager, and that time it's pager. Petrol. You know, petrol. And then
I can save, you know, and then later on when the posit, okay, no, it's 1999. Sorry, sorry, sorry.
It's okay. It's okay. Sorry, sorry. It's not 1990. It's 1999. It's cool. It's cool. Okay. Turkey
is made, it's 1999. Okay. Right. Right. 2005, opportunity arise. Six years later. Yeah. I
joined venture with someone to start a Chinese restaurant. Okay. Feel bad. Is it a restaurant or
coffee shop? It's a restaurant. Restaurant. Restaurant. Without any cooking experience
in the professional culinary world. Okay. The only time I cook for professionally is the one in Turkey,
and the one when I was in prison, I was a tea boy. Tea boy, I cook for the officers and the
superintendent of the prison. So they actually went for audition, hey, this guy can cook, you know,
so I was a tea boy. So I cook for the superintendent. That means I eat the best food in prison.
Okay. So with that experience, I started this Chinese restaurant. It's a 200-seater restaurant,
you know. Wow. It's called Goshien. If you Google, you might be able to get it. G-O-S-H-E-N.
It's a Chinese restaurant, 200-seaters. Unconsciously, I hired about 90% of ex-offender
in this team. Also? Yes. So you'll be doing that because you're… Unconsciously. You're popular
for doing that. Unconsciously. I never planned to do this, but some, you know, when I started my
Korean company, you know, I hired about 80% ex-offender. It's something that is unspoken,
something very close to my heart. It's very natural for me. Right. You know, it's very natural for me.
So it's always been in your blood now? Yeah, yes. When you… Every business you've got.
Because during that period when I came out from prison, this period, nobody wants to hire
ex-offender. Right. Nobody wants to hire. Is it different today, do you think? Different today.
Really? Different today. Now, if you're an employer, you want to hire an ex-offender for you,
you wait. Because the ex-offender now, they have choices. Really? They don't need to work in the
F&B industry. They have choices to work in the IT, they work in the logistics industry, or they
work in… They have choices now. So it's a lot better now. It's a lot better now. A lot, a lot better
now. Because I guess it's because the government is closing their labor tab. Foreigners are not
allowed to get quotas to work in Singapore. Right. So employers got no choice. If you're an employer,
Singapore, there's a lot of employers now. Yeah. You can be an employer anytime. The question you
ask is who is going to work for you? Yeah. Ex-offender is the best alternative workforce.
You want to get them, you can't get now. They have better choices. You know. Okay. So you've always
had that. It's been in your DNA ever since, for every single business you've been in or started
on your own. Consciously. Yeah. Really. Yeah. I did not plan it, but somehow it's very automatic.
In my perspective, two persons came for an interview. Both have the same experience.
You know, and then one is an ex-offender, one is not. I will hire the ex-offender.
Because the ex-offender will, at that time, have lesser chances to get a job.
Right. And for you, a normal person, you'll show him, yeah, I don't want you. Right. That's how
I look at it. Can I just go back to the dispatch company? How did you manage to open that business?
Because I shared with you just now, I've never worked in my life. Yeah. So the dispatch company,
when I came out from prison in 1993, I already started doing dispatch until about
about 2000 something or so doing. I saved up enough money to start my own.
Oh, so you saved the money to do it? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Dispatch right there. So you didn't take
like a business loan or nothing like that? No, no, no. I don't take. My goodness. Yes. At that time,
around that time, before I started the company, I don't even know where's the ATM cards.
You know, so when I do a start business, I need to know that, oh, okay, ATM I was saved.
Then when I do dispatch, my customer owe me money. Then for two months, then they pay the last month.
So I saved up enough to be able to have a healthy cash flow. Right. You know, at that time, actually,
I'm somehow learning how to do business. It's like a survival kind of thing. Okay. You know,
okay. Got an ATM card. Okay. Then start a company like that. Yeah. Wow. So you started a dispatch
company and it ran for how long? It ran for when 205 when I come into the F&B. I started a Chinese
restaurant. I decided to stop it. It actually is a good business. I think if I'm going to run it,
every month I can, although I, some months I will have less money because everybody owes me money.
I have to pay salary. You know, every one month I can get 70,000, no problem. And then with that
kind of money for the dispatch business, you still decided to close it down and go into F&B? Yes.
It's a challenge for me. Wow. And you were not thinking about that's how much I stand to lose.
I was reminded in 1999 by a group of doctors, hey Benny, you really can cook, you know.
You know, my point is always sometimes you have this gift that you realize you have it,
you want to pursue it. You know, 205, I failed that business. 205 was for five years old.
So, 2006, I was four or six years old. I went to Jamie Oliver's restaurant to do an internship.
And roughly a lot of, with all the kids, 17 years old, 18 years old, you know. Then 2007,
that's how I started my, actually I don't want to mention the name, 18 Chef. Okay.
From then on, 2007, and then from then on, how it grows, how it multiplies in Singapore until
14 hours, do you mind? Please bear with me. Yeah. Please bear with me because I spot quite a number
of things. So, sometimes I must retrospect, I reverse back. You shut down the dispatch
riding company. I didn't sell it. You shut it down? I don't want somebody who bought it and then do a bad
job. Right. Wow. Because for me, my dispatch company, although it's run by me and XO Fanner,
my guys are X, but we did a good job in the market. Okay. I don't want the reputation to be
tarnished because I make some money out of this company. So, this means that you were not,
that's really noble, but you were not afraid to lose whatever you were stably receiving
in income by closing down that company to pursue your passion. Yeah. Okay. And then you started
Goshen, the Chinese restaurant. And then how long did that last? Less than a year. Less than a year.
Wow. Oh, wow. 200-seater restaurant. Less than a year. Did it really hit you hard? I mean,
in terms of the loss. Okay. Okay. Since you're munching on that, this is something I have to do,
which I do every episode. So, let me just take a little intermission here. Chef Benny is right
now munching away at his little munchkins that is sponsored kindly by Gordon's Vadez. Here you go.
Here you go. Check it out. Yeah. It's Gordon's Vadez. Yes. And it's from his franchisee, Vijay.
Oh, okay. I don't know Vijay. Yeah. So, Vijay delivers on all of my episodes for all my guests.
So, I hope you're enjoying that. So, thank you again, Gordon's Vadez. This is where you guys
have got to really order. You can order online at gordonvadez.com or you can WhatsApp that number
on the screen. The crispiest, fluffiest damn Vadez in the land. Coming back, now back to the show.
Let me just continue from where I left off. So, Chef, you closed it down after one year,
200-seater restaurant, and then you, what was, what was, what was the lesson learned?
There must have been some lessons. Okay. I guess the failure of the first Chinese restaurant is
my inexperience of managing a restaurant. Okay. If you look around, if I look around me,
there's a lot of celebrity chefs who started a restaurant. They can cook them bloody well,
but when they come into business, they fail. Okay. You know, so that is a lesson for me, managing
food costs, labor costs, and look at the business differently. You know, so when you're so passionate
about cooking, you don't care about what kind of ingredients you put in, the most expensive
ingredients. Of course, you can be a celebrity chef, you know, but what about cooking with
normal ingredients and you come up with tastier dishes? Okay. I think this is a chef and a business
person, businessman. I think I, when I run my, later on when I run a successful restaurant, I'm a
chef and I'm also a businessman. Okay. So, basically the message is very simple. Learn the
business, learn how to run and manage a business, treat it like a business, and then the passion is
already there, so it's in kai, isn't it? It is understood. Okay. So that's what you lacked at
the time when you had Goshen and then what happened after that? Did you, most people,
most people, well I did, would have just given up. You know, in FNB, right, you got hit so hard,
they would have just given up, but you didn't. What meat you pick up? I guess at that time,
I'm still at my, I was at my 40s. Right. I'm hungry. To fear is not an option. Okay.
I fear in this one, I can't fear. Okay. I'm gonna move the mic a little bit for you so it's easy
for you. Okay. Yes. You know, so I have to make it work. Right. Putting in 14, 18 hours a day. I
need to make it work. Doing what? 14, 18 hours a day? In the restaurant business. Okay, but you've
already closed Goshen. I mean, later on when I start, I'm talking about, right, right. Okay.
I'm talking about the successful restaurant I ran. Right. Work the hours, you're saying. Yeah,
working hours, putting in more hours. But how did you get there? After, after Goshen went down.
Okay. You picked yourself up. You didn't quit. You didn't quit. You didn't quit at yourself.
And then you had. I came back, I remember straight down, gave me a center page right up.
About this botai, actually he was cooking at Jamie Oliver's. And you were saying just now you were
with the 17, 18 year olds. Yeah. And what did you, what did you go through at Jamie Oliver's? What
did you go through there? I see a lot of things. Can you share that with us? And I see how they
manage the restaurant. Although I didn't stay there for a long time. Because I'm not paid.
I go there for internship, I have to pay for my lodging and airfare and everything.
Oh, when you are, have the gift of, you know, in this area, once you see roughly, you can actually
learn so much things. Yeah. The first time I actually know what is aglio e olio. Before that,
I'm a Chinese chef. Yeah. I don't know what is antipasti. So you went there with completely
zero knowledge of Western culinary. Some of that I learned. Okay. Although in a short time,
I didn't learn, I did nothing much. Then I came back, I continued to study from the internet about,
you know, different cooking techniques. So with that experience, with that little branding,
you know, actually I work in UK with Jamie Oliver. At least you don't give me face,
give my seafood face, you know. So when I started the restaurant, which I ran successfully,
there's a lot of help, you know, through my short stint in Jamie Oliver's. Yes. Okay. Okay.
So you came back after Jamie Oliver's. When you came back,
you didn't immediately start the restaurant business, right? Again? Came back in 2007.
Wow. You have a group of investors. That takes a lot of balls, huh?
Isn't it? I mean, didn't you feel any anxiety to do that? Economic crisis. Yes. Yes. Quite a big one.
Yeah. Restaurant business, nobody dared to go in. Yeah. And my first outlet was
this shopping mall in Simei. I also don't know where Simei at the time. So because
the rental is reasonably okay, we just go in and
just shoot. So you managed to find investors or did the investors come to find you?
It's the church friends. Okay. So you didn't as if you worked out a pitch deck and go try funding.
There's no pitching, there's no business plan, nothing. Really? Just come out some money, let's go.
Wow. I designed the menu, designed the kitchen and just shoot. He's not going to come out and
start a restaurant, but I'm more fortunate. From there I grew the business. The first three years
was a bad business. So from there, all we pick up ourselves again, pick up and then expand,
got awareness of Singaporeans and begins to like me and support my business more and more.
Let's talk about the three years you just mentioned. The three years were you guys were
just breaking even or you guys were you know? Bleeding badly. Bleeding? You're on the red?
Okay. And then when you're bleeding badly, everybody's got to chip in, right? Yeah.
I got no money to chip in, I got to owe them a lot of money. Okay. But when we ran out of ideas,
I remember the third year we were technically bankrupt.
Oh wow. So my partner said we got zero in the bank. You call a shot Benny,
how you want to turn the business around? Because for the first three years they ran the
whole business. Wow. I guess they underestimate me. But you were confident.
They're all professionals in their own rights. Right. Food business doesn't mean that you are
successful in the financial institution. You know the market very well. Applying these
techniques to run FNB, you feel badly. It's not the same thing. Different. So they ran out of ideas.
So I, he said Benny call a shot. That's how I turn the business around. And what did you do?
Are you okay with the headphones? Okay, all good. Yeah, I'm trying to get a good position.
For three years we are marketing food at 80 Chefs. We are not doing well. So I got to change
another strategy. Okay. Instead of marketing the food, I market myself. So you became the brand.
That's how. Wow. And then it works. Wow. That is the answer to the success of the whole group.
Right. Wow. So you made a call to brand you. And can you share with us how exactly did you do that?
What was it based on? Your own life story. I always look at the banks in Singapore. Right. Okay.
You have DBS Bank, you got OCBC. Right. UOB.
When we talk about DBS, you have Mr. Gupta in Mr. Suit. Yeah. Or we talk about at that time UOB or UB.
Mr. Wee Chow Ya. Yeah. In suit. I was thinking if I'm going to continue to market the food,
he has not been helping us for three years. So we have to change strategy the last
shot really. Give it a last shot. It works. During that time, I'm a very shy person.
I have very low self-esteem. I can't even look at you in your eyes and talk to you, you know.
I always feel that you are a better person than me. I'm a very lousy. I look down and
I can't even raise up my head and talk to you. And what I did was I took a photo of myself in
a shy uniform with my post. You know, you was taller than this. I think as long as this,
at my Tang Baru Plaza. The portrait of you, you mean.
I was very shy. I can't talk. You know, I would not hold a sentence with you. I don't know you.
I always feel very low self-esteem from that on. But you, it was very brave of you. Since you said
that you have, you're shy, you know, self-esteem is low. But then to take on the task of using you
as the face of 18 chefs. I know you have. What? Taken quite a lot out of you, isn't it?
Because we try many ways, many tactics, many strategies to market the place. Can't work.
Right. The last choice is market myself. So it's quite true, isn't it? That sometimes we all really
have got to do the things we don't like to do because we really don't have a choice. But we
know that this could be a solution to turning things around. Correct? Wow. Takes a lot of guts,
Chef. I use this strategy and then it works. From that on, we continue to grow the business.
Right. To grow from one dollar to next dollar. Got the profits, return to
those shares that I need to buy back my share again. And then on, we never take back the money,
we grow the company and then to a stage where we are able to, we are actually profitable.
Right. We got a better salary and then with bonuses. Right. That's where I
got my first condominium and then... Then you started to really grow as a successful
restaurateur. What kind of advice would you give young aspiring... Let's talk about this for chefs.
Okay. What do you think you want to say to them? You are a chef. Okay, if you are young,
if I were you, I would try to go out to the world. Got a chance to go to Europe,
work for people, get experience. Every year I travel. I love to travel. Travel to different
places. Yeah, I see that. I see that on your Facebook. Get to expose yourself to different
kind of working environment. Right. Don't become a chef just because you watch a few
Gordon Ramsay's... Hell's Kitchen. TV or other day, you think it's glamorous thing again.
So yeah, if you have, you are very passionate about becoming a chef. Go and travel the world,
probably get an internship in Europe and work there. Okay. Back and then see what you want to do.
Okay. How about on the business front? Business front, you need to have a mentor.
At that time, you have a mentor, I might not be... I might not fall so many time. Okay. You know,
and then probably you learn from your mentor. And I think it's very important. And if I have a good
mentor, I would not have... I would have been successful earlier. Earlier. Because there's
someone for you to emulate. Yeah. There's someone to teach you. Yes. So this is my advice. Are you
doing that now for anyone? Not that you're retired. I'm giving... I'm still giving consultation. I do
consultation work. Okay. F&B consultation and then... I consult for a lot of friends. Sometimes when
you don't trust them, they will fear. I mean, I try to explain that because they want... You know,
I give them a lot of advices. And then for them, the certain thing I told them is important. They
just don't give a damn. Anyway, to get this supplier for this, they want all this. This is all in my
phone. Can you give me a good recipe for fish and? I can give it to you. You know, so there are
certain things that... Hey, when you go and go to acquire a shop, you must know the provision,
you know, how much electrical, 150 ampere three phase. And then these are the things that they
don't want to listen, you know. I got a... I don't want to say client because it's free consultation.
They want other information. Then the crucial one, they do listen. And then they go to a shop
without enough provision. For electricity and gas and all. Aircon cannot, exhaust cannot. And then
when I visit the shop, I say, before you start, do you check all this provision?
But you did tell them beforehand. Most of them, they were minor in the major.
And then majoring on all the minor. Hey, where is the... How to do a good fish and? How to do a
good aglio e olio? These are easily taught. You ask me, I can give you the recipes.
Right, right. There's important things that I told them. These are important things you must...
Because you got to set it up. To get a studio like this, you need enough
power for aircon. So if let's say a restaurant, you don't have aircon, you want to go to a restaurant.
If the suction is not enough, when you are office, you wear office attire, go to the
restaurant and eat something, and then your whole sh** smells of their food.
You think people want to go, and then they don't listen. Why? Because it's free.
So they have to pay for it in order for them to work on it because they paid money for it, right?
That's your point. I mean, I give a lot of free consultation. They feel very bad, so I don't give
anymore. So when you charge them, they will wake up. You know what I mean?
Because they are invested. You know what I mean?
Yeah, I do. I do.
A lot of things are important. You tell them, these are very important.
Do you want your customer to go to your restaurant, no aircon?
Or do you want to smell like a stick when you leave the restaurant?
Or should smell like a rib eye, man? That kind of situation. These are very important.
But they want a recipe, I can give it to them.
So these people that, I mean, of course, we're not naming names, but these people that you just,
you know, stories like this you just cited, you know, they are coming for consultation.
You tell them they don't listen. Are they still in business?
Or are they f**king up?
I remember the one that I told them the provision is important.
When the second month, first month I go there, the business is slow.
The second month I went there, I said, Benny, can you take over my restaurant?
I'm a very blind person. I think she cried.
Can you take over my restaurant? I'm bleeding very bad.
Oh, God.
Maybe you are able to run and help me to bear all the...
I tell you, give me free also, don't want.
Because how can I run a restaurant without aircon?
You know, you have not enough electricity. When you start the aircon, the whole place trip.
Right.
You get where you come from, right?
Yeah. So from the very onset, it wasn't done means you're screwed.
Screwed? These are the important things. You don't listen to me.
You want the suppliers of all the...
Chef, do you think that's just common sense?
Actually, a lot of things are common sense.
A lot of things are common sense. Marketing for me is common sense.
How to market the food is common sense.
You have been marketing the food for three years, it doesn't work.
It's common sense to change your strategy to market yourself.
Yeah, okay.
Maybe it's obvious.
You're not close shop.
Okay, but not everyone. You see, that's the thing. I'm quite marveled by this, you know why?
Because here you go, a shy person started out in the F&B world, culinary world late,
failed first time around, and then went to work his way through at Jamie Oliver's
in an overseas setting, probably was so alien to you, right?
Travelling out to the UK, you only know how to cook Chinese food.
And then you have to learn all that. Then you come back.
And then you have to make a centerpiece of you, which actually would have been the...
That would have been the killer, you know, when you started your...
You restarted in the restaurant business again.
But for someone like you, as you said, shy, and then putting up with it.
Pick portraiture of yourself on the building.
Because I look at people who are following me.
They are, and most of them are ex-offender.
Yeah.
And then I'm the leader.
But you were an ex-offender too.
If I am shy, I can't lead them. I can't articulate what I'm doing.
I can't articulate my brand. What am I cooking? What are cheese baked rice?
Who's going to articulate for you?
Yeah, sure.
You know, sure. So I have to force myself to wear this bonus, I would say.
Then from that on, I began to give public speaking.
Of course, the first few times was bad, you know.
And then slowly, I have gained the confidence to speak to any kind of audience.
So basically, it was necessity.
But there was another factor.
The factor is that you've always had it in your blood to give opportunities to ex-offenders.
And you felt that you have to really show them the way.
And you put your best foot forward and put yourself in an uncomfortable position.
Just to lead them. Wow.
It's possible. Even if you are shy, you can't talk, you can change to someone that you can actually articulate.
I mean, for me, it's a very good example.
If you know me, man, 10 years ago or before, during the time when I started my restaurant business, I'm a very shy person.
I can't hold a conversation with anybody.
For one or two sentences, I will be looking down.
Before we started shooting today, we had a chat.
And one thing that caught me during that chat, I'm going to raise it now on camera.
You started in this life at 45.
What advice would you give?
Say someone like me, for instance, I'm 53.
Or anyone out there who's in their middle age.
And they have a dream that they want to pursue.
Should they or should they not?
And if you say they should, what advice would you give?
First you have to ask yourself, are you hungry enough?
You must be very hungry.
You must be very hungry to eat the bad day.
Then you just take it back.
You don't care about your hand or your no consequences.
You just go ahead and try it.
You never try, you never know.
But there's always this fear of failure, right?
There's always this fear of failure.
They've got family as well.
If you ask me if you are able to do things over again, we don't want to come into F&B.
I don't want to.
It's very tough.
I don't know how I survive all these years and make it successful.
I really scratch my head, man.
Wow, so difficult. I don't want to.
I'm scared. May I run?
But if you can succeed, it's really, really good.
I've never thought of retirement.
I never thought of one day I'd be able to retire.
I don't have to worry about my next meal.
I don't have to worry about mortgage.
I never thought of that.
I can't say I'm a very rich person.
But I can't say I'm a poor person.
I eat anything, anytime.
If you ask me, man, how tomorrow we go to New York for a holiday, no problem.
I'm able to afford to go.
I don't have to worry about anything.
Everything is paid off, paid.
No mortgage, nothing. No loans.
I am a free person.
I never thought one day I can be sitting here, retired.
But you are, you see. You never thought of it, but you're retired.
So your journey towards retirement, there must have been something,
it must have been somewhere in the back of your head, right?
That I will retire sooner or later.
I never thought of retirement.
But my wife retired when she works for the government.
She's a civil servant.
In 1965 she retired.
And then during that time, just after COVID, when people are allowed to die,
I felt that I'm tired.
I want to spend more time with my wife, you know.
And then we downgraded.
I got an old point block, large.
I was staying, very, you know.
But before that you were living in the...
I'm living in a penthouse.
I have a roof garden.
I tell you, every time when she harvest the cherry tomatoes,
harvest and not pluck, you know.
Far over Bt.
Sweet one, a harvest one.
You got melons, you believe, melons or straight...
No. On your roof garden?
My wife loves all this.
You know, I'm more relaxed in my aircon room.
Don't want to come out too hot.
I don't want to come out living room type.
She will wear like a gardener and she will love...
She loves all that kind of activities.
Okay.
Yeah, now we keep that up.
At my point block, five-room flat, I built her a nursery.
Because there's one part of our space is East Sunder.
Those who grow her plants.
You know, for me, my hobby will be...
You know, you see me on my Facebook.
Take out the guitar.
I would love to...
Imagine I'm Gary Moore and then do some still got a blues.
You know, I gain teal, you know, that kind of...
So I mean, my sixties, these are the things you do when you are a kid.
So when you're after exam, got nothing better to do.
Get your guitar and then listen carefully how you interpret that phrase by Gary Moore.
You know, that dash.
How do I do this?
You know, all right.
You're pretty good actually, to be honest.
Okay. Not bad.
I actually watch and listen, you know.
I try to think...
I try to understand different phrase that Gary Moore makes.
I try to replicate.
Of course I'm not...
Why Gary Moore?
You know, someone who I really respect.
I respect the way, the kind of style he plays.
You know, the loner, still got a blues, his classic.
A lot of his songs I love to be.
Then maybe after that, I'll go into another kind of genre.
I see, I see.
So that's what you do every day.
But now I have a different kind of hobby.
If you follow my Facebook,
once in a while I'll do my glutinous rice lo mai fan.
Okay. Yes.
And then just, I think yesterday,
I just advertise, okay, for next week,
7th to 11th of August, during the week of National Day,
I'm going to sell my lo mai fan.
My lo mai fan is not cheap, $108, 2kg.
Wow.
You have to come and collect, you know.
You don't come and, hey, can you arrange for...
No, no, no, no, no.
Can you divide for me, please?
You don't do all this. You want, you come.
How do they order? How do people like...
PME?
Just PM you?
Okay, everyone cannot PM Chef Ben Isidoh.
I don't do every day.
I don't do. I feel,
wow, this week maybe nothing much can do.
So I'm asking my wife, I want to do.
Because we are not doing it for the money,
doing it for the...
I want to do it to continue to improve my craft.
You know.
Even after retirement.
Yes. You know, when I...
Tomorrow I have, let's say for some day,
tonight I can't sleep, you know.
I'm very excited, you know.
I will think of how I'm going to work,
what technique I'm going to use,
and then what time I wake up and what to do.
Actually, it saves a lot of my energy, you know.
Because there's one time I do for a few weeks.
Wow, I think I told my wife I'm not going to do anymore.
Takes too much of our time.
We are retiring, you know.
We shouldn't have been doing this.
We should just do some nature walks.
Because you know, my house,
we can walk to the Gilman Barracks.
Yeah, yeah.
Henderson.
Yeah.
We can walk the Green Corridor.
We got so many things to do.
So just yesterday, I posted after a few hours,
all sold out.
So next week I'll be quite busy.
Wow, super, boy.
Cooking, Laumai Fun.
And my Laumai Fun is really damn good.
Okay, pretty sure.
Next time you're doing this again,
I'll put it up on Facebook.
I'll look out for it.
Yes, but I put a few hours, all sold out.
Oh boy.
Like hotcakes, man.
You know, so okay.
I think a lot, I have a lot of fans.
But why did you sell?
Okay, you sold the penthouse.
To downgrade.
Huh?
To downgrade.
Okay.
And your wife was okay with that.
Okay, okay, okay.
Lost the loose garden and all that.
She always complained to me because my penthouse is 1833 square feet.
Wow, that's big.
One by two.
Okay.
Our rental is huge.
My rental for my ground 29th floor is 400.
The space is huge, but my living space is very little.
Right, right, right.
You know, upstairs is about 500 square feet.
Then my below.
So when my wife, all this stuff felt very claustrophobic, you know.
It's a three-bedder, three toilets, you know.
So when I moved to this penthouse, she was so happy.
She was so happy.
She said, wow, I can really breathe.
You know, it's so, so well.
So we come back to basic.
We want to go back to basic, you know.
And then we live simply, you know.
But we can travel.
My wife was so okay with traveling.
And then we just, we just travel.
Last two years when the pandemic opened up for traveling, wow, we really travel quite a lot.
Okay.
Ever travel.
And then your next passion is your bikes.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Quite a rocker, Chef.
Yes.
I, when I retired in 2001, I bought a Harley Davidson Pan America.
It's a damn lousy bike.
I nearly, three months I bought, I paid $70,000.
Not boasting.
And then three months the bike arrived.
And for the first three months, two and a half months in Harley workshop.
Oh my goodness.
At that time I was very mad.
I really want to sue them.
I bought a lemon.
Then I look at the consequences.
I don't want to put myself into limelight again.
So I sued it at about 40K.
Three months I lost.
Then I told myself I would never ride any bike anymore.
So when I retired and recently I bought a Ducati.
Okay, I enjoy.
I enjoy, enjoy, enjoy riding the Ducati.
So much for not wanting to ride a bike anymore.
So, you know, I mean, retiree.
So I actually, maybe I'm trying to justify.
I asked myself, you want to be a Lepa kind of passive retiree?
I want to be very active.
So you want to be passive?
Don't buy.
Everyday Lepa at home.
Play Gary Ma.
So you want to be active.
It's like get your motorbike, climb, go and drink kopi with your friends.
That kind of thing.
So this is what I'm doing.
And you're having fun.
Having fun.
Do you miss, besides the time when you put out your orders to cook.
Do you miss the daily grind?
Do you miss, you know, all that?
Actually, I, it is, there's the time for you to be.
There's a time for you to really see how you accumulate some money, save some money.
There's a time you think of buying cars.
I mean, you know, probably I have been poor since young.
When I see the first stash of money I bought, every year I change a German car.
Wow.
Brand new German.
Every year.
Except Audi.
I don't know why.
I'm not against Audi.
I got the Porsche, got the Mercedes, brand new.
Then got the BMWs, all brand new.
Then Sian already, after one year.
Drive Range Rover.
From Germany you went to England.
German cars are better.
British car, technology, loads to the Germans.
Yeah, technology wise.
I drove a Range Rover.
The villa.
Were trouble free?
High spec edition HSC.
Trouble free.
I think they're more trouble free.
Their electronics got problem.
Just like the Harley I bought.
Really.
They can't solve the bloody electronic problem.
Then they don't launch.
So there's a new, new model.
New model.
It's called the Panac.
I'm not a bike guy so I really don't know.
When you ride an adventure bike, you climb, you tip toe.
When you start your bike, straight your bike, goes down.
You're flat footed.
I thought of this technology as salivate.
I'm the only one that's going to drive that.
Outrides.
So the thing doesn't go down.
Goes down.
But first three months, two and a half months in the bookshop.
I remember I dropped it once and I tried to lift it up.
I got my frozen shoulder for two over years.
Really?
I mean I rode BM bikes.
Holy shit.
All the adventure bikes.
Anything drop, the center of gravity of the machine makes it very easy for us to just
say nothing.
This one really, maybe I'm not cut out for riding Harley's.
Before we end the show, Chef, any plans?
Do you have any plans worth mentioning?
Worth mentioning, okay, when I was running a business, I never thought of passive income.
So I risked going, what for I want to think about this?
So after I retired, I mean like what I said, I can't say I'm poor.
I can't say I'm very rich.
But I don't lack anything really.
The Lord provides me with almost everything.
So now I start to think about passive income.
So now I'm learning how to invest in property.
You might not be buying big houses or what.
So I'm doing some co-living spaces.
Very interesting.
I do a lot.
Something that I can invest.
I can see my properties.
It's not like something crypto depends on whatever for.
Suddenly you become a rich man.
And suddenly you, wow.
Gone.
I'm not an investor of such.
I don't speculate.
I want to speculate myself.
So you're looking towards finding if you're interested in property you get passive income.
I'm doing co-living.
Quite okay there.
Quite okay.
I'm not promoting co-living.
Something I find that if I would have no such kind of passive income, I would have do it while I'm running my business.
I would have to spend a lot of time.
It just generates some funds and then it's better than putting it in the bank.
So basically you're saying that, I mean, do you feel then that you should have done that earlier?
Yeah.
So now I'm doing it.
It's never too late to do something crazy.
So you're really...
Not really crazy.
You ask me a question.
If you're in your 50s, 60s, you want to start something.
If you're hungry, you start.
You think you can...
Even if it's a loss, you are able to do it.
You don't go and borrow money and go and do any investment or anything.
Never, never.
So you save up and do it.
Yeah, save up and do it.
You have some money.
Better than putting it in the bank.
Right.
You know, that kind of...
Right.
So you've really, really retired.
I really retired.
Wow.
I'm not joking.
Wow.
And at first it was quite difficult, but now I'm enjoying.
You know, happy for you, Chef.
Happy for you.
And I really want to thank you again for being on my show, this time this show.
And really, it's really nice seeing you again.
And really, everything you say is always genuine.
It's always really from the heart.
And I can tell.
I really didn't have to talk much today.
And it's always a great thing about having you around.
I don't have to talk so much.
I think you probed the right questions.
I mean, we never planned for this.
No.
I don't know what I'm going to talk.
That's not a fact.
Or ask you.
You probed.
I've got to tell you.
I prepared ten questions here, upon which I only used one.
And that was the first question I asked you.
After that, I forget it already.
Because you were basically telling me everything I think we all ought to know.
You know, and that's really, really great.
And here's the takeaway I have.
The takeaway is, like what you said, if you have a real passion and you're hungry,
just go and do it.
Amongst other things, if you're going to go to F&B, don't be stupid.
Do your homework before you do anything.
If you want to destroy the life of your enemy,
ask him to go to F&B.
Ask him to start a restaurant.
It's from the heart.
That's a great way to end the show.
So once again, everyone, I've had the pleasure of having Chef Benny Sitoh with me.
I still call him Chef.
I don't care whether he's retired or not.
As far as I'm concerned, that title has been conferred on him.
And it will always stay with him.
So thank you again, Chef Benny.
And I hope you guys enjoyed this little tete-a-tete that the two of us have been having.
And once again, thank you to Gordon's Vade.
It's been really, really nice.
Please do continue to send them out away.
As you can see, Chef Benny was munching away.
He was loving it.
And everyone else, please do subscribe to CCB TV podcasts in YouTube.
And also follow us on Facebook, at CCB TV.
We're also on Instagram, ccb.tv underscore.
And surprisingly, we're on TikTok as well, at CCB TV.
This is Chris Hansen.
Whatever you do, don't just drop into the F&B business without thinking.
Don't go there.
Thank you so much for watching.
I'll see you again soon, next week, for the next episode.
Bye bye.
Mmm.